1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector which has particular application for interfacing a disk drive, into which a floppy disk is to be loaded, with a controller card of a personal computer while replacing the conventional printed circuit board interface which has been previously used but is undesirably characterized by relatively high production cost and space consumption.
2. Prior Art
The typical interconnection of a conventional printed circuit board between a disk drive and a personal computer is best described while referring to FIG. 1 of drawings. In FIG. 1, the circuit board 1 is shown having a machined surface 2 formed at one end thereof and the bent pins of a box connector 4 soldered to the opposite end. The machined surface 2 includes an array of flat, parallel aligned contacts 6 and is commonly referred to as an edge card. The contacts 6 of the edge card 2 are connected via a printed circuit 8 formed on circuit board 1 to respective soldered junctions with the pins of the box connector 4. The output pins of a shrouded header 10, which header is associated with a conventional disk drive 12, are received within respective cavities of the box connector 4. Moreover, the flat contacts 6 of the edge card 2 are received within a receptacle at a conventional ribbon edge card connector 14, which connector terminates a flat ribbon cable 16. As will be known to those skilled in the art, the ribbon cable 16 is electrically connected to a controller card (not shown) which is then connected to a personal computer. Accordingly, the disk drive 12 is connected to the ribbon edge card connector 14 via the printed circuit 8 of circuit board 1 and the box connector 4 and edge card 2 which are located at opposite ends thereof.
However, the typical interconnection of the circuit board 1 in FIG. 1 results in the added cost of a box connector 4 and the corresponding labor to solder the bent pins thereof to the printed circuit 8. Likewise, the machining of the edge card 2 further contributes to the cost of connecting disk drive 12 to the computer. Of course, the presence of the circuit board 1, itself, consumes space and increases cost. Moreover, the interconnection of circuit board 1 between the disk drive and computer increases the risk of defects and the chance of rejection.
It would therefore be desirable to eliminate the circuit board 1, altogether, along with its edge card 2, box connector 4 and printed circuit 8, whereby to reduce both labor and component costs. Thus, the disk drive 12 could be more easily and reliably connected to a computer controller card while conserving space and reducing the risk of rejection due to a manufacturing or assembly defect.
Examples of conventional connector interfaces are available by way of the following U.S. patents:
______________________________________ 4,239,319 December 16, 1980 4,533,202 August 6, 1985 4,538,877 September 3, 1985 ______________________________________
However, none of these connector interfaces is described as emulating, and thereby replacing, the conventional printed circuit board interface or as having application in a conversion kit for substituting a disk drive in a personal computer.